1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for assuring quality of a product supplied in a container for a transaction, at all transaction stages.
2. Description of the Related Art
A quality assurance of a commercial product has been realized by attaching a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag to, for example, food product (i.e., beef or vegetable) and recording a place of production and/or distribution routes in the RFID tag. With a use of the RFID tag attached to the commercial product, it becomes possible to convey detailed information of the commercial, product to consumers and traders.
However, for realizing the quality assurance of the commercial product through the RFID tag, it is required that information stored in the RFID tag is not to be fraudulently altered. Thus, an organization named trusted computing group (TCG) proposes a specification of a security chip with a function that prevents fraudulent alteration of data and programs stored in the security chip.
If the security chip implemented with the specification proposed by the TCG is used, the quality assurance of solid products can be realized. However, for assuring the quality of liquid products or gaseous products supplied in a container, it is necessary to manage even opening and closing of an inlet/outlet of the container.
In an area of oil distribution, there is a threat that oil with unauthorized quality (unauthorized oil) is to be mixed due to a malicious operation or a misoperation, at each distribution stage of manufacturing oil in an oil refinery, transporting the oil by a distributor using a tank truck, delivering the oil to a wholesaler in, for example, a gas station, and selling the oil to an end user. Therefore, there is a strong demand from users for assuring oil quality in the area of the oil distribution.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H11-208792 discloses a technology for installing an identification (ID) device that stores information of the type of oil to be refilled, on a vehicle, reading the ID device through an oil refilling device in the gas station, and determining the type of oil to be refilled, so that misoperation for refilling different oil can be prevented.
However, with the conventional technologies, it is difficult to prevent a malicious operation of mixing the unauthorized oil during an oil distributing process. It is because the technologies disclosed in the above document is for preventing only a misoperation over oil transactions and the technologies are not suitable for preventing the malicious operation of mixing the unauthorized oil. Even the oil type to be refilled can be specified with the conventional technologies, there still is a possibility that an operator maliciously feed different oil.
Accordingly, there is a strong demand for realizing the quality assurance system with which mixing of the unauthorized oil can be prevented over all distribution stages in the area of the oil distribution. The demand is raised not only for oil product, but also for other products (i.e., liquid product, gaseous product, and granulated solid product) supplied in a container for a transaction.